Connor released her and said, “I’ll bar the door.”
He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it into a chair as he walked across the room, at ease in his body and unconscious of his beauty. And Connor MacDonald was beautiful. Ilysa’s head felt light as her gaze traveled the lines of his broad, muscular back and down to his narrow waist. The muscles of his buttocks and long legs flexed beneath his trews as he moved with the sure grace of a warrior.
When he came back toward her, Ilysa’s body prickled with awareness and her chest felt too tight. Without taking his gaze from her face, Connor stripped off his trews—and Ilysa stopped breathing altogether. Her brief look at him naked when she had barged in on him that first day after his bath had been wholly inadequate.
When she dropped her gaze lower, her mouth fell open. His staff was standing straight up, and it was far bigger than she expected. She had not seen it the first time. Though she had not ever gotten much of a look at her husband’s, either, she was certain it had never been like this.
After realizing she was gaping, she dragged her gaze to his face.O shluagh!The heat in his eyes singed her skin and made her pulse leap wildly. Everything about the intimidating warrior before her was overpowering—his nakedness, his wolf-hungry eyes, his erect shaft. She had to remind herself that this was Connor, and she could trust him.
She did trust him. More than that, she loved him.
When he pulled into her arms and kissed her, she soon forgot her nervousness. For such a hard-muscled man, his lips were soft and pliable. While he deepened the kiss, he ran his hand from her hip up to the side of her breast. Her head spun as their tongues entwined. All the while, she was excruciatingly aware of his shaft pressing against her stomach through the layers of her skirts.
She felt the tension of his taut muscles beneath her fingers as his kisses grew more urgent. Connor groaned into her mouth as his hand covered her breast. When he rubbed his thumb across her nipple through her gown, sharp sparks of pleasure shot through her, and she had to break the kiss to gasp for air.
Connor moved to her neck, giving her a sucking kiss that pulled sensations all the way from her toes. Then he grew gentle again, and she sighed as he ran his tongue along the skin above her bodice.
When he pulled back, his black hair fell over his eyes, making him look dangerously handsome. “Let’s take your gown off and get into bed.”
A squeak of assent was all she could manage.
Connor’s hand shook as he slowly pulled at the loose end of the bow at the top of her bodice. She watched the rise and fall of his chest as he unfastened the laces that held the front of her gown together, revealing her chemise beneath it. Then he pulled her against him and kissed her until she could not think at all. One hand supported her back, while the other was inside her bodice kneading her breast. When he found her nipple again, he sent shivers of pleasure spiraling through her body until she was breathless. And far too warm.
Once he took his hand from her breast, he was remarkably quick at removing her gown. Ilysa was uneasy, but at least she still had her chemise on. She crawled into the bed and pulled the bedclothes up to her chin. When Connor got in, the mattress sank under his weight. She had to brace herself to keep from rolling into him as he stretched out beside her.
The tension between them jangled her nerves as they lay face-to-face across the pillow. Connor’s eyes, which sometimes looked gray, were steely-blue now, and his jaw was dark with the day’s beard. He lay still as a wildcat watching its prey.
“What’s wrong?” she asked when he made no move to touch her.
“I’m waiting for ye to stop being afraid of me.”
“I’m a bit nervous is all.” It was ridiculous since they had done this before. But as he said, this time was different.
“Have ye changed your mind?”
“No!” she said quickly, and his white teeth gleamed in a sudden smile.
“I can understand if you’re frightened after last time,” he said. “I hadn’t had a woman in a very long time, and I didn’t know that…Well, I regret I was too rough and rushed.”
“No, ye weren’t.” She shook her head against the pillow, wanting to reassure him. “It was…quite exciting.”
“Ahh, Ilysa,” he said on an exhale, and his eyes held that darkness again that robbed her of air.
She dropped her gaze to his chest, taking in the well-defined muscles, the dark curly hair, the arrow wound that had finally healed, and the white lines of old injuries. Of its own accord, her hand went to the long gash that ran across his ribs on his left side.
“You have so many scars,” she said as she traced it with her finger. “I remember this one from the MacKinnon attack.”
“I don’t notice them.” He enfolded her hand and brought it to his mouth. His breath was warm on her fingers. “Do they bother ye?”
“It pains me to know how many times people have tried to kill ye.” She withdrew her hand from his to brush her fingers through the hair at his temple. “But each scar reminds me of how very precious your life is.”
“The last two days have reminded me how quickly life can be cut short,” he said, and his eyes clouded.
Ilysa feared she was losing him to the darkness that had engulfed him earlier and rested her hand against his cheek to draw his attention. The scratch of his whiskers felt good against her palm.
“Save your worries for tomorrow. Tonight, it’s just you and me.” She leaned across the pillow. “Forget everything else and kiss me.”
Connor gathered her into his arms and gave her a long, melting kiss that made her toes curl. His hands roamed her body, slowly and deliberately, sending waves of heat everywhere he touched. She wanted to touch him, too, but she did not know where or how she ought to do it. Last time, she was caught in a maelstrom before she had time to fret about being so ignorant. But now, she did not know what she was supposed to do.